


Tied Up

by Multiple_Universes



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 15:11:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9497777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multiple_Universes/pseuds/Multiple_Universes
Summary: The Fifth Doctor and Braxiatel both end up tied up together on an island on a long-forgotten planet. As they watch the Doctor’s companions try to rescue them the Doctor and Braxiatel compete in who has been in the worst situation.





	

Braxiatel sighed. “Oh dear, this looks like it will take a while.”

“If I could just—” the Doctor struggled with the ropes, but had no luck. “Good grief! These knots are—” He grunted and twisted his arms.

“Are you sure you never took Houdini to this planet, Doctor?”

“Of course not! I didn’t take him anywhere!”

“Well, if you’re sure.”

There was a long silence.

After a while the Doctor lowered his head. “I guess we’ll just wait to be rescued.”

“How many companions are you travelling with this time, Doctor?”

“Three.”

“Ah.”

The Doctor waited for Braxiatel to elaborate, but it seemed that Braxiatel had nothing more to add. “Well? I think it increases our chances of rescue, if I have more than one companion.”

“Always the optimist, Doctor.”

“Why did I have to get tied up to the same pole as you, anyway? Don’t they have enough poles around here? Couldn’t they tie us up separately? Then I could sit in silence and not listen to you insulting my friends.”

“I didn’t insult your friends.”

“No, but you…” The Doctor let out a heavy sigh. “It’s this heat, isn’t it?”

“Well, we are under direct sunlight, yes.” Braxiatel let the words hang in the air before adding. “And they’re building a big fire over there. I doubt it’s to keep them warm, even if they _are_ insufficiently dressed.”

“Any minute now Nyssa, or Tegan, or Adric will come and find us.”

“Of course.”

There was another awkward silence.

“So, Braxiatel, why are you here?”

“I’m here to meet an old friend.”

“One of the natives of this planet?”

“No, not one of the natives.”

“Shame.”

“Quite.”

The Doctor sighed. “As imprisonments go, this one hasn’t been the worst… or the best. In fact, I would probably put it somewhere near the top of the list.”

“Ah, I guess that means we can put this planet on the list of top ten places to be captured on.”

“I’m only saying that it could have been worse,” the Doctor said defensively.

“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’ve been in situations a lot more unpleasant than this one.”

“Hah! I doubt you’ve been in more trouble than me, even if we _do_ count that incident in Venice.”

Braxiatel winced. “Yes, well, you handled that _wonderfully_.” The Doctor ignored the sarcasm in his voice. “But, still I insist that you can get your fair share of difficult situations on Gallifrey.”

“When you wear the wrong robes? Or miss a High Council meeting you were invited to?”

“When Gallifrey is under attack or invaded, for example.”

“That’s alright: you can just hide somewhere until others sort it out.”

“Doctor!”

“Or, or you could leave the planet on supposedly important business.” The Doctor’s voice was slightly higher in pitch as he said those words.

“There are always internal matters to deal with. The Academy, for example.”

There was a loud exasperated sigh and the Doctor looked around. “Speaking of which, at least this is much better than that dreary class on protocols.”

“How would you know? I recall hearing repeatedly about your continued absence from that class, Doctor.”

The Doctor opened his mouth to argue and burst out laughing.

Braxiatel joined him. “Look at us! Reminiscing about home at a time like this!”

“We must be getting old, Braxiatel.”

“Hmmm… Possibly.” He shifted over slightly. “Tell me, is one of your companions a rather loud young woman?”

“That sounds like Tegan.”

“She’s giving one of the natives a piece of her mind. It’s hard to make out the words from here, but she does look angry.”

“I promised to take her to Heathrow.”

“That would explain her stewardess outfit.”

A short contemplative silence followed those words and then Braxiatel spoke again: “Ah! I see two new people. One of them is a young man and the second is a woman. They are– oh, never mind, it doesn’t matter what they were doing, since they seem to be bickering amongst themselves now.”

The Doctor sighed like someone who was, once again, forced to go through the same tedious task.

“I hadn’t realized you were branching out into childcare, Doctor.”

“How Miss Frizzle dealt with this kind of thing I will never know.” He re-evaluated that sentence in his head and decided it needed further explanation. “Miss Frizzle is –”

“Oh, I know perfectly well who Miss Frizzle is. I had the honour of meeting her at the Collection once.”

“Of course you did.”

“She and– an archaeologist friend of mine became friends quite quickly. I believe they exchanged advice for several years.”

“I see…”

“There is the disadvantage of taking companions with you. You have to keep them amused.”

“They’re not fighting for the sake of amusement!”

“Probably not, but they wouldn’t be fighting, if they had something to keep them preoccupied.”

“You mean like rescuing us?”

“Point taken.”

For several minutes neither of them said anything. The Doctor could just make out the loud tones of Tegan’s voice interrupted from time to time by Adric’s quieter tones that were slowly rising in volume. He tried to imagine what they were fighting about this time and prepared himself mentally for the inevitable sorting out that he would have to do on his own. He took slow, controlled breaths.

It was getting very hot and very uncomfortable.

“You know, it just occurred to me that I have a pair of scissors in my pocket that you might be able to reach if you move closer,” Braxiatel said quietly.

“Why do you have scissors in your pocket?”

“That’s a long story I’d rather tell you in the shade.”

The Doctor shifted over and reached into Braxiatel’s pocket. “I can’t… ugh! …maybe… can you… can you move a little closer? …thank you… this rope… where did they get it? …ah! got it!”

After several minutes of tricky maneuvers they managed to cut their bonds and rose to their feet. They flexed their arms and legs.

“Much better!” Braxiatel exclaimed with a smile. “Now, Doctor, what do you propose we do?”

“Wait, I need to sort something out.” The Doctor stormed off in the direction of his companions.

Braxiatel watched the three young people jump up in surprise and rush to the Doctor. He smiled as the Doctor’s face reddened. A wind picked up and carried his irritated voice to where Braxiatel was standing.

“… completely immature! If you think for one minute…”

“Poor Doctor,” Braxiatel murmured.

The sound of splashes made him turn and he saw a young woman crawl out of the water. “Hey, Brax. Did you have a fight with the locals?”

Braxiatel held out his hand, but the woman ignored it and stood up without his help. “Only a small disagreement. We should hurry while their hands are full.”

The woman looked over to the incongruous group that was still arguing over the exact definition of immature behaviour. “Is that… the Doctor?”

“Yes, in one of his earlier regenerations.”

“Hmm… Not bad.”

“As ever, I leave that entirely to your judgement, Benny.”

“Of course you do, Brax.”


End file.
